


Ballad of the Heroes

by nocturnalSpectrum



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Genre: Angst, Eventual Found Family, Gen, Post-Canon, Time Travel, more tags will be added as think of them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:28:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24550822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nocturnalSpectrum/pseuds/nocturnalSpectrum
Summary: After Link restores the Holy Triforce of Lorule, Ravio is left feeling out of place in the aftermath.He stumbles across a stranger in the woods and finds himself warped back in time to a point before the Heroes of Lorule destroyed the Triforce. He doesn't know what he's supposed to be doing but at least he's not alone for the first time in years.(Sort of an AU - I've taken a couple of the games and used ideas from them when crafting this story.)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I've been working on this story since 2018 and I've decided it's finally time to upload it!! Very exciting for me since I have the rough draft planned out for at least the first quarter of the story and a good five chapters actually roughly written. 
> 
> I wanna give a HUGE thanks to my Beta Reader Chirpy-Chi !!!!!  
> I SUPER DUPER APPRECIATE YOU!!! TT A TT !!!! 
> 
> SO This story will take a chapter or three to really set up! 0v0  
> I'm actually pretty proud of it!! I'll try for once a week updates but after the first five chapters,  
> it'll most likely take much longer as these things do! lol 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!!

Ravio tossed in his sleep on his small bed as he dreamed of the days before Link had restored the holy Triforce of Lorule.  
  
He was just a kid again, no older than five, watching his parents as their terrible desires took hold of them and twisted their forms to match. The masks they wore did nothing to stop their terrible fate from befalling them.  
  
His father had been first, even though he had been adamant that joining the cult of masks would save them.That had been his downfall, believing the masks would protect them more than any prayer to the neglectful and neglected goddesses.  
  
He had left them as his body began to change, Ravio had watched the door shudder under his father’s harsh clawing grip as his warped body scraped against the ground on his way out.  
  
After that his mother refused to leave the house for any reason as she hid inside with Ravio. She had hoped that if she avoided the outside they would be spared, but it was not an infection of the body but the heart. They lived off eggs from their roosting cuccos and when they stopped coming home, they ate what was left of the vegetables that they tried growing inside.  
  
And then the scene twisted again to the night when his mother woke him with a distressed violent scream as she began to transform. 

Ravio had been trapped in the rafters for days- He HAD to- his mother had- she had asked him to- He couldn’t stay in the house- not with the blood- not with her- He left that house and wandered across the town, bloody, lost and alone.

He had stumbled his way up the steps into the untended temple, his mind reeling, thinking of nothing and yet and yet- 

He fell at the base of the ruined altar of the forgotten holy three. 

It had been a clear night but his mind had been filled with fog. 

He prayed to them then, for many nights and days growing weaker with every morning the goddesses did not speak or help him. Of course they wouldn't hear him, the triforce had been destroyed for centuries, he didn’t even know their **names**. He wept for everything he had lost and everything he would never have again. 

A soft hand was placed upon his back in that moment, 

He stiffened but shakily turned to face them, only to throw himself to the ground before Her. It was the Princess Hilda. His whispered voice died mid prayer as She looked upon him with pity. She opened Her mouth to speak-

A sudden burst of static overtook his sight and his world trembled beneath his fingers- this didn't happen- It wasn’t- This was **not** how it went- This Was, a Dream! 

Ravio startled awake, his shirt was soaked through and his mind racing as utter dread clawed at his soul.

That wasn't... it wasn't how he met the Princess at all, his father didn’t turn- He didn’t kill- his parents had left him alone in their old home. Abandoned! He hadn’t- He didn’t- He COULDN’T-  
  
His parents were still alive, _somewhere._ _  
_He felt sick as he clung to his blankets. _  
_ _  
_Right. He had been training to join the guard. Princess Hilda had seen him and proclaimed that he would be Her knight. Even though he wasn’t even that good, even though he was a coward, She still wanted him.

Her first words to him were still clear in his mind. 

"Do you know the old story? Of how our land became cursed? It’s up to us the descendants to fix the mistakes our ancestors made and take up the Holy Triforce once more." She had told him one late evening with the moon illuminating Her. 

"You are the striking image of the hero of old, you shall be my Knight." She proclaimed so long ago.  
  
Ravio had been useless before that moment, his future uncertain and nonexistent. She had given him purpose.

The moon streamed weakly through the boarded windows of his home casting an uncertain light on his mask. He shakily picked it up from where it fell onto the floor and traced it’s wooden horns and painted eyes. The unease slowly left him as he traced the repetitive patterns over and over and over again as his shaking slowly subsided.  
  
Sleep came to him achingly slow after that but never once did he notice the reason for the far too quiet room. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note:  
> Unbeta'd for now since I'm slow at editing and got the chapter to my beta pretty late!  
> I'll update it later tho and leave a note on ch 3 if I end up fixing anything <3 
> 
> ANYWHO,  
> Let me know what you think and/or if you liked it leave a Kudos for me <3 <3  
> Please and thank you!!

Ravio vaulted over the side of his bed breathing rapidly. Knowing rather suddenly that he was needed somewhere, and with a terrible sense of panic knew that there wasn't enough time to do what needed to be done. 

But as he stood there trying to remember where he stored his maps he paused and slowly realized that he didn't know where he needed to go. The feeling dulled as the last wisps of his dream faded and he was left simply confused. 

Lorule had been so busy fixing everything since the holy Triforce had been brought back to their world. Princess Hilda was still trying to calm the townsfolk and convince them that she was doing everything she could to find a way to de-monsterize the lost ones. 

Ravio had just assumed everything would go back to normal but, not everything was fixed, nothing really changed right away. And he had.. a terrible feeling that something was going to happen. Princess Hilda called that 'anxiety' but sometimes he got the feeling it was more than that because he used to  _ always  _ feel that way and it was never like this. 

He sat down and stared at his mess of a home. He still hadn't gotten around to cleaning it, and even now his door stayed boarded shut. He didn't trust the other Lorulians just yet, he knew he'd have to eventually but.. he didn't want to. They still scared him, they were still the same people who chased him out and tried to kill him. 

He walked over to the back of his home and took his rabbit robe from the hook. He looked at the mask that was once his, well it still was but.. he didn't want to be mistaken for part of that cult anymore. He’d been part of it with his family but.. they were gone now and even if his family did come back he doubted they’d recognize it. 

Princess Hilda was trying to root the leader out from their hiding place but he thought it was impossible. That mask cult had been around for a really long time and it was a well accepted religion now. He remembered they used to say that carving a mask under the full moon would give it power and protect them from the horrificness that their world was becoming. 

Sometimes.. his mask frightened him. Under the right light it's eyes seemed to stare into his very soul and sometimes he thought he could hear strange whispers from it when he wasn't paying attention. 

He lifted it up from his bed and stared at the purple wood and the endlessly staring eyes.   
He stopped wearing it a few years after his mother left him but he stopped carrying it when someone tried to steal it. The mask was scary but it was still full of memories of his parents, Ravio just couldn't get rid of it. He couldn't. 

He put his robe down on his bed and sat down with the mask running his fingers over the grooves and texture of it. His father had come home one day with three masks, one for each of them believing that the masks would save them from it all. 

Save them from becoming monsters and from the others who sank deeper into despair. He spoke wildly in those days and truly believed there was a deity of masks out there who would protect them more so than Lolia or any of the three forgotten goddesses who had become no more than a naive child's tale. 

He hadn't even known about them, not really, until he overheard Link praying to them one morning when he had been staying in Hyrule. Link taught him how to pray and how to ask for strength, wisdom and courage but.. those prayers didn’t work in Lorule. They never did. 

His grip tightened on his mask as his memories drifted to when Princess Hilda had first found him. In those forgotten ruins at the base of a destroyed altar and a winged statue. He was alone then, his parents had been- they were- they became- No- that was just his dream. Dread curled in his chest at the very thought. 

Ravio harshly wiped away his tears and set the mask down. 

He had things to do, Princess Hilda wanted him to be seen around town and be seen as a knight of the crown. He wasn't a fighter though, even if she was sure of this. She was so, So  _ Sure  _ that there was a  _ reason _ he looked like the hero of old.  That he was like Link of Hyrule, a great warrior of courage who could overcome any obstacle. 

He wasn't, he never would be. He was too much of a coward! He threw himself across his bed angry at himself for everything he wasn't and then sighed. Link had told him that he was always scared too, that to be truly brave you had to be scared, and if he couldn't have courage that was okay. He, Ravio, could be brave instead. Link always made him cry with his too kind words. 

Ravio knew he was useless and hated. But Link wasn't like that, the Hylians weren't like that.. Maybe the Lorulians could be like that someday too. 

A sudden knock sounded and he knew the knights would be waiting for him. He tossed on his robe and pushed his hood up. He could be brave if no one saw him, he could do this. Taking a breath he put his old mask back in its place on his wall, it would have to stay here without him.   


He crawled through the small window near the ground behind his house and pushed away the rock that was hiding it. It'd be no good if people found out how to get inside his home, his stuff would definitely go missing. He arranged the grass and rock back over the hole and then jogged to the front. 

"OH Hello There! I was just running… errands!! My! What are all you doing here on this fine day?" he turned his head to the side as if he were confused and let his acting cover up any nervous blunders he'd no doubt make. 

The knights turned to him with exasperated faces, they seemed tired of having to deal with him. The captain walked forward, "Ravio you  _ know _ Princess Hilda asked for you to help with the recovery.  _ You are the hero aren't you? _ " the knight just looked saddened,"Please, just- just come with us for today." 

He didn't really want to,"A hero! Haha! Oh No no- I'm just a simple merchant! Right Shee..row..." His heart grew cold. He knew something was off, Sheerow wasn't with him, usually she was around and sometimes she flew off but she always appeared by morning. She was, "MISSING!! SHEEROW'S MISSING! S-She wasn’t with me! She’s not  **_with_ ** me!!" 

" _ Ravio  _ We don't have time for this. Just-" he took a breath, "Princess Hilda told us to respect you and we have been  _ trying but you're making this hard." _ The Captain took off his helmet and crouched down so he could look the kid in the eye, or as much of 'in the eye' that his rabbit hood allowed,"Kid come on. I know you don't want to do this but bear with us for today. Come with us and I'll see if I can't get you out of this whole duty thing for tomorrow." 

Ravio was already shaking his head, "I can't- Sheerow- she's not here! I can't-" 

"Come with us and we can help you keep looking out for her then." The captain's face looked tight with frustration. Ravio froze, the captain probably didn't plan to actually look but it was better than just looking for her all on his own. .. He couldn't even fight and if she was out there in the wilds. He felt a little faint- 

"alright- I'll- I'll go. Please she's small she could be anywhere! She's not like the other birds she's-" Ravio began to plead with the small group beyond the captain. 

One of the other soldiers held up their hands,"Okay okay- Whatever she's a small weird bird. Got it. We're all tired of standing here so get your ass into gear already."    
  
Ravio wrung his hands together as he followed behind the knights.    
  
“Please.. She’s all I have.” 


End file.
